The hula halau in old Hawai'i educated and trained dancers in the tradition and kapu associated with the hula. The hierarchical structure that characterizes Hawaiian society suggest that there existed a ranking system within the halau and competition may have existed even amoung the different schools. Halau operated in different geographic regions under families who followed different traditions. The fact that each halau teaches different traditions is revealed in the old Hawaiian saying that "all knowledge is not to be found in one halau."
Tradition determined a set of standards of proper etiquette that presided over everything from the building of the altar to the representation of a particular word in dance. The emphasis in the halau was tradition, to preserve the mele hula and movements in their original form.
Not all meanings were necessarily represented visually, but were suggested through the various meanings of the words themselves or the context of word placement.
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